Means for shrinking hat bodies and the like



June 11, 1929. L. WHEELER 1,716,401 a MEANS FOR SHRINKING HAT BODIES ANDTHE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1927 speed gear.

Patented June 11, 1929,

are at LELAND WHEELER, 0F DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO TURNERMACHINE COMPANY, INC., OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

Application filed November 26, 1927. Serial No. 235,804.

This invention refers to multi-roller felt hat body shrinking machinesby which felt hat bodies whilst soaked in liquor are subjected to theaction of pressure rollers to shrink the same, the hat bodies passing.between the rollers in a flat state.

In such machines the rollers, which are arranged in rows one aboveanother, are given a to-and-fro endwise movement in addition to therotary motion, the rollers in one row moving in the opposite directionto those in the other row. The speed of the rollers in the 1 two rows isthe same. After passing out of the machine at the rear end, the hatbodies are returned by hand to the front end, the hat bodies passingthrough the machine a number of times before being shrunk to therequired size.

' According to this invention, means are pro- Vided whereby all therollers may be optionally rotated at the same speed, or the rollers inone row may be rotated a slightly quicker speed than those in the nextrow, the change of speeds being effected by suitable change Further,below the rollers is arranged an endless conveyor by which the hatbodies, on reaching the rear end of the machine, are automaticallyreturned to the front end, ready to be again fed into the machine, ifnecessary. At such front end of the machine may be an endless feed apronfor feeding the hatbodies between the rollers. Also near to the forwardend of the conveyor may be a pair (or set) of small diameter rollers forsqueezing the hat bodies and removing the surplus liquor therefrom priorto the hat bodies being lifted on to the feed apron.

' The pressure rollers will preferably be made of wood, and covered withhemp rope, or cord tightly and closely coiled around the roller from endto end; they may, however, be made of metal, and be covered with Wood,or with rubber or other suitable material.

Upon the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates a side elevation of a mi.- chine embodying theinvention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a longitudinal sectional elevation of the samemachine.

Fig. 3, illustrates a transverse sectional elevation of one side of themachine.

a, a are the pressure rollers, arranged in two rows, and with thespindles of one row 'mounted in an upper sliding part b and those of theother row mounted in a lower sliding part 72 both of said sliding partsbemg supported upon the upper edges of the end frames 0 and being freeto move bodily in a direction transversely of the frames, but being heldagainst end movement by the parts 0 rising from the frames 0. Cross rods5 connect, the parts 6 together and cross bars 6 connect the parts Z2together.

The upper and lower parts I2 5 and their rollers are given a to-and-fromotion transversely of the machine by means oflinks b b, alever keyed toshaft Z1 and pendant levers 5 each of these latter, at its otherwisefree end, being slotted and engaging the slide block of an eccentric Z2on the power shaft cl. The'link b connects to a bracket on the-part band the link Z) connects to a bracket on the part 5 seeFig. 3.

Each roller spindle in the top row is fitted with a Worm wheel 0, whichgears with one of a series of worms 6 on a shaft f, and each rollerspindle in the bottom row is fitted with a worm wheel 9, which gearswith one of a series of worms in on a shaftz'. The shaft 7 is rotatedeither by chain wheels and 7' and chain 7' or by chain wheels and j andchain j, while the shaft 71 is rotated by chain wheels c and chainZ fromthe shaft (2. When rotated through the chain wheel s j, j the speed ofthe shaft 7 is the same that of the shaft 2', and all the rollers aredriven at one speed.

; Wheuthe shaft is rotated through the chain wheel (which isapproximately one tooth smaller than wheel the speed of the shaft isslightly quicker than that of the shaft 2', and the upper rollers rotateat a slightly quickerv speed than the lower rollers. The change of speedis controlled by a hand-operated clutch, see Fig. 1, comprising a parton (with dog teeth) splined to the shaft 7', and adapted to engageeither the wheel 7' or the wheel j To insure the hat bodies beingcarried through the machine, the rollers a-a' are rotated in oppositedirections by right and left handed worms 6 and h, respectively.

Usually the speeds of the rollers a, a will be uniform when the hatbodies to be treated are fed tip or brim foremost between the bodies arefed side-ways between the rollers, i, e. with their axes parallel withthe axes of the rollers. l/Vhen the hat bodies are fed forward side-waysbetween the rollers, and one row of rollers rotate quicker thanthe'other row, the difference in peripheral speeds of the rollersresults in the hat bodies being,

treated uniformly throughout their whole circumference, and so much so,that there is no necessity to open out and refold the bodies prior toeach successive passage between the rollers, and consequently, aftereach passage through the machine, the hat bodies can be fed into itagain without any special hand manipulation. Further, with the rollersof one row arranged in staggered relationship to those in the other row,the hat bodies, in passing between the rows of rollers, follow a wavypath, thereby repeatedly flexing the hat bodiesfirst in one directionand then in another, which action, in conjunction with the compoundto-and-fro movements and differential rotary movements of the rollers,effects the rapid and even shrinkage of the hat bodies.

Usually the hat bodies will first be passed though the machine one ormore times sideways, the rollers of the top row rotating at a quickerspeed than the bottom row. They will then be passed through the machineone or more times tip or brim foremost, the varied positioning of thehat bodies helping to ensure of even and rapid shrinkage.

To facilitate the feeding of the hat bodies into the machine in a fiatstate, an endless apron U is provided, driven from the endmost roller aof the bottom row.

Below the rollers, and extending from front to back of the machine, isthe long endless conveyor n for returning the hat bodies from the backto the front of the machine. Such conveyor is preferably made of amaterial impervious to acid. The conveyor is carried by rollers 0, 0,one of which is driven by a chain or belt p from a wheel or pulley onthe spindle of the endmost roller of the top row. Said chain or beltpasses over tensioning rollers g The conveyor a may be fluted on itsouter surface, and it may also be perforated to allow of the escape ofthe liquor that falls upon it. At the front end of the machine there maybe rollers 1', 1", between which the hat bodies, While being returned bythe conveyor from the back to the front of the machine, pass and berelieved of surplus liquor. By treating the hat bodies as aforesaid andreturning them to the front of the machine automatically, all handlabour (except that of lifting the hat bodies off the conveyor andplacing them on to the apron u) is dispensed with.

The speed of the conveyor n will usually be such as to return the hatbodies at a rate suitable for enabling them to be continuously fedthrough the machine.

The rollers a, a may be made of wood and covered with rope or rubber, orthey may be made of metal'and covered with wood or rubber, or othersuitable yielding material. Rubber cord may be used, and, to preventstretching, the cord may have a core of wire, round or oval.

Although preferring both rows of rollers to have an endwise movement, itwill be understood that only one row of rollers may slide to and froendwise, the other row being'held against endwise movement. Y

What I claim is 1. A multi-roller felt hat body or like shrinkingmachine comprising two rows of pressure rollers, one above the other,and the rollers in each row lying close together, but out of touch witheach other, and those in one row lying close to those in the other rowand in positions directly opposite the spaces between the rollers of theother row, means-for rotatably and slidably supporting the rollers, aworm wheel on each roller spindle, shafts alongside the machine andworms on said shafts with which the worm wheels mesh, means forsupporting said shafts, variable speed gear for driving one of saidshafts, and further but non-variable gear for driving the other of saidshafts, the worms of one of the shafts being right-hand worms and theworms of the other shaft being left-hand worms, and the rollers of onerowrotating in a direction opposite to that of the other row, and therollers of the upper row rotating at a speed slightly quicker than therollers of the bottom row, as set forth.

2. In a felt hat body shrinking machine as claimed in claim 1, anendless conveyor, and carrier rolls below the pressure rolls, saidendless conveyor being spaced from the rolls and extending the entirelength of the machine with its upper flight travelling toward the frontof the machine whereby the hat bodies are carried to the front of the,machine, and a travelling feed apron at the claimed in claim 1, anendless conveyor, and

carrier rolls below the pressure rolls, said endless conveyor beingspaced from the rolls and extending the entire'length of the machinewith its upper flight travelling toward the front of the machine wherebythe hat bodies are carried to the front of the machine, and .an endlessfeed apron operable by one of the pressure rolls at the front end of themaichine and above the endless conveyor for feeding hat bodies into thepressure rolls.

4. In a felt hat shrinking machine as machine, and means at the frontend of the clalmed in claim 1, an endless conveyor and machine above theendless conveyor for feed- 7 carrier rolls below the pressure rolls,said 111g hat bodies into the pressure rolls. 10

endless conveyor extending the entire length In testimony whereof I havesigned my I 5 of the machine with its upper flight traveling name tothis specification.

towards the front of the machine, whereby the hat bodies are carried tothe front of the LELAND WHEELER.

